'Worst film ever made' becomes global Netflix hit after bombing at cinemas

Joker: Folie à Deux has found new life on the small screen (Picture: AP) It might have been an almighty flop at the cinema but it seems there’s life in the Joker sequel Folie à Deux yet. And it’s all thanks to streaming platforms, where the ill-fated 2024 blockbuster is proving very popular — including finding its way into Netflix’s global most-watched charts. According to stats from FlixPatrol, the film is currently the 10th most-popular movie worldwide on the platform two years after it first hit screens. Folie à Deux newfound success is even more notable considering it’s only been released on Netflix in limited locations. Viewers in central and South America – including those in Argentina, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Brazil and Mexico – can watch it on Netflix, as can those in Canada, the Bahamas and Jamaica. The film bombed at the box office when it was released in 2024 (Picture: AP) However, it’s not yet available to stream on the platform in the UK, where viewers will have to pay to watch it on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV or Google Play – or via a NOW TV subscription. It’s also available to rent from Sky Store. Originally released in 2024, Joker: Folie à Deux was Todd Phillips’ follow-up to his 2019 smash Joker — which won Joaquin Phoenix an Oscar for his portrayal of the tormented Batman adversary. The musical sequel picks up where the first film left off, with Joker – aka Arthur Fleck – standing trial for his crimes. While imprisoned at Arkham, he meets the luminous Harleen ‘Lee’ Quinzel (Lady Gaga), who helps him to come to terms with his fractured identity. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival that year, but got off to a rocky start after becoming become the first Hollywood comic book movie in history to receive a dismal D CinemaScore rating from opening night audiences. The musical numbers gave the sequel a very different feel (Picture: Warner Bros/Everett/Shutterstock) It went on to lose roughly $70,000,000 (£53.5m) at the box office in its opening few days, and landed on streaming platforms just a month after its cinema release. Critics weren’t too kind to the film either. It holds a dismal 31% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with The Sun saying: ‘This Joker feels more like an ego project for him and Phillips, rather than a film for fans’ and Film Stories calling it ‘a dull courtroom drama that mostly discusses the events of the first film’. It did have its fans, however, with Sight and Sound saying: ‘Folie à Deux is a far less morally quarrelsome film, which makes it both less interesting and a sight more enjoyable – if you like the songs.’ Meanwhile Metro also defended the film, saying it had been wrongly criticised for its musical roots. The film ended up on streaming just a month after its cinema release (Picture: AP) Even its own cast took shots at the final film. American comic Tim Dillon, who had a small role as one of the Arkham Asylum security guards in the beleaguered sequel, introduced Joker 2 as ‘the worst film ever made’ during an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast. The comedian also claimed that he and other actors working with him slammed the movie while they were still working on it as ‘c***’ and predicted it would ‘bomb’, adding that during filming he described it as ‘the worst thing I’ve ever seen’. Phillips previously shied away from describing it as a musical, saying: ‘Most of the music in the movie is really just dialogue. ‘It’s just Arthur not having the words to say what he wants to say, so he sings them instead. I just don’t want people to think that it’s like In the Heights, where the lady in the bodega starts to sing and they take it out onto the street, and the police are dancing,’ he explained.